Impact of East Coast fisheries still playing out

BATON ROUGE — If you thought Louisiana's seafood industry might get a boost from the lull in commercial fishing activity where Hurricane Sandy made landfall late last month, you were wrong.

Jeremy AlfordCapitol Correspondent

BATON ROUGE — If you thought Louisiana's seafood industry might get a boost from the lull in commercial fishing activity where Hurricane Sandy made landfall late last month, you were wrong. Some seafood processors in southeast Louisiana said just the opposite is happening, that sales to buyers on the East Coast are down slightly as portions of states like New York and New Jersey continue to recover. However, brisk and unexpected holiday sales back home in the Bayou State are already beginning to compensate for such losses, said Motivatit Seafoods owner Michael C. Voisin of Houma.“There are infrastructure challenges there created by super-storm Sandy, and people are trying to save their homes and they're basically not eating out or anything,” Voisin said. “The market has been a little depressed.”There are hopes that in the coming weeks and months that processors, fishermen and others in Louisiana will be able to help to some extent repopulate the retail marketplace with wild-caught product as well as assist their counterparts in the Northeast in their dealings with the federal government. “We've already been trying to offer advice to some of the shellfish companies up there,” said Voisin, a member of the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission. The two regions — the Gulf Coast and the sister states of New York and New Jersey — may soon collide as Congress is expected to take up a relief package for Hurricane Sandy.That's because Ewell Smith, executive director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, and other interests in the Bayou State are wondering whether needs related to Hurricane Isaac can be added to the relief bill. It's not unheard of for Congress to bundle aid for different natural disasters into a single bill. “I think there could be an opportunity there for us,” Smith said. Although not as deadly or expansive as Sandy, Hurricane Isaac made landfall over southeastern Louisiana in late August with sustained 80 mph winds and torrential rain.In comparison to Isaac, Hurricane Sandy made landfall roughly three weeks ago south of Atlantic City in New Jersey as the largest Atlantic tropical system on record. There were 24 states affected by Sandy at least in some way.It has only been five days since the U.S. Commerce Department announced a “fishery resource disaster” for New Jersey and New York.Jane Lubchenco, an administrator with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said it's the “first step in supporting these industries and communities up and down the East coast” and underscores the importance of the industry as a whole.“Fishing is the lifeblood of many coastal communities, providing jobs and recreational opportunities for millions and contributing to the food security of the nation,” she said. Although the extent of the damage to commercial and recreational fisheries and coastal infrastructure in New York and New Jersey is not yet known, the cascading economic and social impacts will likely be extensive, she added. In 2010 alone, New Jersey and New York commercial fisheries landed almost 190 million pounds of fish, valued at more than $210 million.As for some perspective, Alaska was the top U.S. state in terms of landing volumes in 2010, accounting for 52 percent of the nation's total catch; it was followed by Louisiana, which accounted for 12 percent of the nation's landings that year.Moreover, the commercial landings from the Empire-Venice area in Plaquemines Parish were recorded at 353 million pounds in 2010, outpacing the two East Coast states. From the sport side, New Jersey and New York recreational fishermen took more than 10 million trips and caught a total of nearly 5 million fish.The Gulf of Mexico region routinely doubles that trip amount for the recreational sector each year.

Jeremy Alford can be reached at jeremy@jeremyalford.com.

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